Mike Little is a member of the Electric City Shag Club in Anderson, South Carolina.  He is also a member of the Association of Beach & Shag Club DJ’s and the National Association of Rhythm & Blues Deejays.  He hosted for 3-1/2 years The Saturday Morning Beach Party on WANS, 1280 AM in Anderson, which was rated by Arbitron as the highest rated AM show listened to and number three overall for that time slot.  In 2004, he was awarded the Rufus Oates Award by the National Association of Rhythm & Blues Dee Jays for his writing contributions.  He now serves on the Board of Directors of the NARBDJ.

Have You Heard …

  Big G has a new album out.  The Virginia native has come on strong in the Beach Music market area within the last few years giving us some great music such as Hot Loving and Thank You Girl.  Hot Loving made a big splash in the clubs coming from his 2003 album, Keeping It Real.  It was in 2006 that he released the Broken Hearted album that contained Thank You Girl.  Though this song was not as strong as Hot Loving, you never know.  The song just might resurge in the near future.  His new album, Heart And Soul has several numbers you will want to check into.  Southern Soul Blues is the choice pick on the CD released from his own production company, Big G Sounds.  It is a little slow from the others we are familiar with, but pitch control can fix that easy enough.  You also will want to check into Heartache and Still In Love.  These, also, have potential, but, again, pitch control may be needed.  Big G was born in Charlotte County, Virginia, growing up in clubs listening to artists such as Clarence Carter, Rufus Thomas and Roy C.  Roy C, who resides in Allendale, South Carolina, is Big G’s favorite.  In 1997, Big G released his first single, Don’t Leave Me Girl, which gave him immediate notoriety in Virginia and the Carolinas.  Heart And Soul can be purchased from his web site, www.biggsounds.com.

  If your crowd likes Boz Scaggs’ Sick & Tired, and they probably do, it being one of the top songs of 1997, then they will like Dave Fields’ Still Itchin’.  You will find a lot of similarities between the two songs, even though Still Itchin’ is heavy on the harp work.  And heavy on the harmonica is a good thing in this case, as the talented Billy Gibson is a guest musician on the song.  In any event, this song will work for you, no matter what part of the country you hang your hat.  The song is part of Dave Fields’ new release, All Wound Up, coming out on his own label, Fields Music Inc.  Born in Manhattan, his father, Sammy “Forever” Fields, the lauded virtuoso pianist, composer, arranger and producer, was thrilled when his son expressed a desire to go pro in the music industry.  Raised in Macon, Georgia by a nanny named Nettles Still, whom he calls “mom”, Dave Fields was instilled with a Southern-fried flavor of music.  His father demanded that he receive a thorough musical foundation.  Dave became an accomplished pianist at an early age, moving on to the coveted guitar at age 14.  Eventually he would become proficient on acoustic and electric bass, Dobro, pedal and lap steel, mandolin, drums and B-3 organ.  Your crowd is bound to get all wound up when they hear Still Itchin’ and will be itching to hear it again, again and again.

 Have you heard about the tribute album to the legendary Blues mandolin player, James “Yank” Rachell?  About his last name, if you were born in the North, you can pronounce it “Ra-SHELL”.  If you were born in the South, it is pronounced like the female name, “Rachel”.  Born in 1910 on a farm near Brownsville, Tennessee, eight-year-old “Yank”, according to legend, was tending to a pig on his family’s farm when he met a man playing a mandolin.  A trade ensued, and a legendary Blues story was born.   Rachell later struck up an association with harmonica player John Lee “Sonny Boy” Williamson.  The duo moved to Chicago in 1938, recording for Bluebird Records until Sonny Boy’s death in 1948.  Rachel moved to Indianapolis in 1956, becoming the elder statesman in the Blues music scene until his death in 1997.  Even after his death, his legacy is alive and well.  Thus comes the album A Tribute To The Legendary Blues Mandolin Man James “Yank” Rachell, 1910-1997.  Musicians like John Sebastian, Andrea Fahe, Rich Del Grosso and Mike Butler all play the mandolin, and they join a host of other great musicians to release this album.  Check out Moonshine Whiskey.  I think you may find this one appealing.  Jerome Mills handles the lead vocals with Mike Butler on the mandolin.  Mike comes back later with Greg Ashley giving us Divin’ Duck.  This is also a song that you will want to check into.  To find out more about this album, click on www.yankrachell.com.